Holy cow.
It’s like someone dropped the scale of a 2011 action film right smack dab into the heart of early ’80s Spielburbia, and the result is about a bazillion people who just went, “I think I need to see ‘Super 8.'” Well-played, Paramount.
The thing about “Super 8” is that, being cloaked in the same typical secrecy that surrounds all of the Bad Robot projects precisely because of jerks like me who tend to blurt things out, there’s not much to go by so far in terms of solid information on what we’ll be seeing this summer.
What I have heard from those in the know is that the film is very much a boy’s adventure movie, like “The Goonies” or “E.T.”, a film that’s aimed at a young audience and that’s meant to play broad. I think the youthful feel of the movie surprised some of the people who are working on it in various capacities. Not in a bad way… just in a surprised way.
And now looking at this trailer, what it seems to sell is the wonder of the film, the feeling that these are normal people caught up in something crazy, and in particular, that kid’s-eye point of view seems to be clearly communicated in this, the first real footage we’ve seen from the movie.
Remember… that great early teaser trailer was shot before they even cast the movie. Some of it is cut into this spot, but I’m curious to see if it makes it into the actual movie. What we really get here is a feeling of small-town America being invaded, a marked contrast to the gritty urban feeling of the “Battle Los Angeles” spots that also ran today. Having Spielberg’s name front and center in the spot only cements the fierce Amblin’ nostalgia that this one kicks off in me.
I don’t really recognize the cast, except for Kyle Chandler and one of the Fannings, but I like that. I just want faces… great movie faces who are part of this story. That was one of the things that Spielberg did best when he was younger, and it is part of the appeal of the films like “Jaws” and “Close Encounters.”
I hope this film maintains a curtain of real secrecy right up to the moment it opens, because that could make for one of the summer’s most special experiences in a theater.
“Super 8” opens everywhere June 10, 2011.